The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-11-03
MISCELLANEOUS.

I
IL Maine man VINO doesn't want &c
be b"' hered with baggage when he goes
! travelling takes only an extra collar,
and carries that under the sweatband
of his hat
The canes now worn by the fashion
able Young men of New York have
I! cigarette cases in their silver handles.
1 The heads accommodate package OF
cigarettes, and the opening clasp and
the hinges are so minute Is to be
scarcely perceptible.
When lightning struck the barn of
James Smith, of Marion, Ind. he was
standing between his two horses with
three pigs nosing around their feet. At
the flash all the animals dropped dead,
while Smith was entirely unharmed.
An odd time-piece is shown in a
Philadelphia window The front of
the clock is large. round waiter. The
hours are marked on dozen oyster
shells. A small plate. garnished with
slices of lemon. conceals fireworks, and
the hands are knife and fork.
1T is said of the mayor of Alexan-
dria, Va, that he "can impose a fine
on violator Os law with so much ease
and grace that ne makes the fellow feel
that he has really had high compli-
.nent paid him. and leaves the court
room feeling better than when he en-
tered it."
Teacher" Bobby, what do YOU
know about the ocean ?'' Bobby
Goudly) -" Big ships sail on it."
Teacher-''And what do they DO on
the big ships when the sea runs high
in stormy weather?' Bobby-"Drink
brandy and lemon juice. ."-TowD Top
icS.
Tom Webb. living near Millville.
Cal. has an apple tree on which he
| grated the Duchess pear about two
years ago. The bud has done better
than the apple, but both bear fruit,
each after its kind. The strange part
of it is that pears and apples grow to-
! gether on the same twig.
"A new process has been discovered
by which the most delicate patterns,
even of lace work, can be produced in
iron by casting the metal on the fabric
after the fabric has been carbonized.
Molten iron can be run on the most
delicate fiber in carbonized state with
out injuring or affecting it.
Bridal parties who visit Washington
are disappointed because they can not
ascend to the top of the Washington
monument. Congress made no appro-
priation for furnishing steam power to
run the elevator, and unless special
measure is introduced at the next ses-
sion the top of the shaft will be mac
cessible during another fiscal year.
A tract of 1,655 acres. embracing
Wilmurt Lake and part of Big Rock
Lake. in Herkimer County, has been
bought for 500, 900, and club probably
will be organized with membership of
about twenty to own the property. Will
murt Lake is $500 feet above the level
of the sea, is fed by springs, and is
counted one of the best lakes in the
! Adirondack region for fly fishing for
speckled trout-N J. Sun.
| One of the lates attempts to har-
ness the forces of nature for the service
of men is the adaptation of windmill
for the turning of dynamo, the cleo
+ tricitv thus obtained being stored in
suitable batteries, and afterward used
/ in lighting beacons for the benefit of
! the maritime interests. There is a
! station of this kind near the mouth of
the Seine, and considerable success has
been obtained.
"A Cleveland turfman owns horse
that can both trot and pace mile in
fast time. As PAGER the animal has q
record of 2:20}. which he made last
year. Early last spring his owner
changed him into trotter. and he has
made splendid record this season.
The owner says he can. with twenty
minutes notice. change his horse from a
PAGER into trotter, or vice versa.
In the early days only a few
scholars and priests knew how to write.
1t was then customary to sign docu-
ment by smearing the hand with ink
and impressing it upon the paper, at
the same time saving Witness my
! hand" Afterward the seal was intro
duced as 4 substitute for the hand
mark, the two forming the signature.
This is the origin of the expression used
in modern documents.
The Sierra Nevada range might be
called continuation of the Cascade
Mountains; but those are of volcanic
origin, and the Sierra Nevadas are
granite, though traces of volcanic ac-
ton are often found on the flanks and
base. 1t commences at Mount Shasta,
IA, 400 feet high, and runs in Il sOutherly
direction to Tejon Pass, where it joins
the Coast range not far from Mount
! Whitney, the highest mountain in the
| United States south of Alaska. There
are but few passes over these mountains,
and the Pacific slope is very steep, the
Central Pacific road descending $500
feet in eighty miles. s.-PubIic Opinion.
George Ambrose, who lives on the
Captain Okeson farm, a couple of miles
east of Lexington, Mich, is the owner
of turkey hen that has brood of half
grown turkeys, among which is a young
prairie chicken of apparently the same
age as its companions. Whether the
chicken was Matched with the turkeys
or adopted by the hen when small is